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Post by Alan on Sept 29, 2023 18:22:04 GMT
I have had a good look around social media and it's clearly NOT true that the song is universally disliked with no positive feedback whatsoever, despite what anyone says here (although it definitely divides opinion). Many appear to really dislike it, calling it horrible/horrendous and so on which I find really over the top. If I didn't know any better I'd swear they were trolls. Where were you finding the positive comments? Even in the official ABBA fan club page/group (whatever it is), there wasn’t one positive comment, with a general preference for the original. I was a bit surprised at this, as I think reaction in that group/page was quite positive with the new song. Some of it does stem from the fact that Gary Barlow was involved in it though. He’s generally hated (and not just because of tax avoidance reasons). Call me cynical but this new version nicely co-insides with Take That’s new song which is being played to death on Radio 2. Are they with BMG? I don’t know, but I’d say it was deliberately co-ordinated. As I’ve said before, Agnetha can easily be detached from these new versions if they aren’t new vocals. Her involvement, other than the new song, would have been minimal. Jörgen probably played her the new completed versions and told her people would love them, and she had too much (albeit misguided) respect for him to disagree. Not really her fault, she’s merely had the wool pulled over her eyes. |
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Post by Alan on Sept 29, 2023 18:31:27 GMT
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Post by paulman on Sept 30, 2023 6:53:47 GMT
I would have much preferred an an album of new songs, suited to her voice now, from Agnetha. I would totally agree with this argument. I liked Agnetha's only new song, although most fans on this site didn't. I don't mind that at all. I do not impose my opinion on anyone. I think, however, that it was a bad decision to redo an album that was not bad at all in its original form. This only testifies to today's creative misery about the inability to compose new songs and arrange them appropriately. The golden past century full of musical ideas will simply never return. |
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Post by Alan on Sept 30, 2023 8:24:36 GMT
I’ve just heard it but once is enough. Seems to be more of Gary on this and less of Agnetha somehow?? As with Kate Bush’s Director’s Cut (though that was different as it was re-recorded vocals and partly retained instrumental performances), at the least the originals are still there. We haven’t heard from HOMETIME in a while. I wonder what his take on this new mix might be? |
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Post by joseph on Sept 30, 2023 9:35:02 GMT
Thank you! I couldn't have put it better myself.
Apart from posting screenshots of the many positive comments I've seen about the song on Facebook, YouTube, etc I don't know what else to say. I'm certainly not making it up. What on earth would I have to gain from that? I'm not exactly crazy about WDWGFH and although I'm pleasantly surprised by this mix of ISHFIY, I'm not head over heels with it, either. There's no denying there's a lot of negative reaction, too (as I've said before) but it's weird having to defend what I've seen with my own eyes. The idea that there's no positive reaction to this AT ALL is just ridiculous. It's possibly the most divisive project I've ever witnessed, sure, and I'm fine with people not liking it OR loving it. I'm somewhere in the middle. I may hear A+ and be underwhelmed OR thrilled. Either way, I'll be honest about it.
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Post by richard on Sept 30, 2023 10:23:53 GMT
I would have much preferred an an album of new songs, suited to her voice now, from Agnetha. I would totally agree with this argument. I liked Agnetha's only new song, although most fans on this site didn't. I don't mind that at all. I do not impose my opinion on anyone. I think, however, that it was a bad decision to redo an album that was not bad at all in its original form. This only testifies to today's creative misery about the inability to compose new songs and arrange them appropriately. The golden past century full of musical ideas will simply never return. I agree with this. Undoubtedly, good new songs are still being written and recorded (according to me, of course!) but, of what I've heard, a lot less of them. Yes, it depends on what someone wants and expects from their listening, but it's far more than an age thing. I was over-enthusiastic about ISHFYH on first listen (but I was glad I preferred it to WDWGFH): the arrangement suggesting something to me a bit Sade-like was wide of the mark. |
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Post by johnny on Sept 30, 2023 10:39:40 GMT
You can always find positive opinions about ABBA - and solo members on youtube - whether justified or not.
The remix of ISHFYH, with a slight jazzy feel, is an improvemnt both on the original and WDWGFH. That said, I am still not a fan! But at least it is more memorable now. Alan, Gary Barlow does seem a little more prominent now and its his voice that appears processed..
The Golden Age of popular music is indeed well and truly over - and this isn't an age thing.
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Post by voyage2 on Sept 30, 2023 11:43:19 GMT
It will be interesting to see what they do with Dance Your Pain Away. Always thought it deserved more success.
I'm looking forward to getting the album. I've stated before that MCB is my absolute favourite, post ABBA solo album, but 'A' does have some personal, emotional memories for me, so it has a place in my heart.
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 30, 2023 12:06:23 GMT
We haven’t heard from HOMETIME in a while. I wonder what his take on this new mix might be? I have a lot of other things going on right now, so I won't be around nearly as often for the foreseeable (crack open the champagne, johnny!  ) I swing by every now and then but don't usually have the time to get stuck in. Having heard the snippet a few days earlier, I was pleasantly surprised by this mix. The snippet was a bad advert for a better track. The jazzier chords and the bossa nova feel are interesting. The vocals have been heavily processed and, given that it's the original performances, there can be no snark about faltering abilities: it's simply and clearly an up-front stylistic choice. I like it ish but prefer the original, which seems to have a little more Agnetha DNA in it - albeit a bit more of Barlow's voice in the mix than you'd expect of a collaboration with a living legend (he probably thinks he is one). It helps that it's a much better song (IMO) than WDWGFH.
But this new version got me thinking: is this really how they'd have arranged and recorded the songs if Agnetha was recording them for the first time in 2023? I don't think so. I'm interested to hear what's been done to songs that I've never liked. For instance, will the new approach dial down the cloying nature of The One Who Loves You Now? (Put down the torches and pitchforks, folks, I won't be around!). On the other hand, I hope that the sublime Past Forever is not ruined. Making DYPA a little ballsier would be good. Pushing WYRLS through an Ariana Grande type cookie cutter could be disastrous. I guess we'll find out in a fortnight. This duet isn't really what I'd expected, so it's probably daft to second guess what might be on the way.
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Post by BAAB on Sept 30, 2023 12:40:31 GMT
@ Admin: Could this Thread be renamed to A+ or Agnetha new Project 2023, we are long over the release of WDWGFH...
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Post by joseph on Sept 30, 2023 13:13:17 GMT
'Cloying nature'. That's a perfect description. I couldn't put my finger on how I felt about that song (TOWLYK).
I doubt there'd be any pitchforks. Not from me anyway. I couldn't give a toss if everyone hated something I liked. That's just subjective taste. What does piss me off is someone making claims that clearly aren't true. I'll bloody challenge that every time.
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Post by BAAB on Sept 30, 2023 13:37:03 GMT
@ Hometime:
"Cloying Nature..." Maybe you don't have a clue, but for non-english people like me, your postings in particular are really inspiring!
Because you spice your comments with expressions which are special and require looking them up in LEO 😄
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Post by Alan on Sept 30, 2023 15:07:15 GMT
What does piss me off is someone making claims that clearly aren't true. I'll bloody challenge that every time. Well, I’m guessing that was a very thinly disguised pop at me? I wasn’t, I said I hadn’t seen any elsewhere. I have since checked YouTube and you’re right, there are some positive comments there. I guess remixes aren’t for me. There are some exceptions. I liked the “blue” mix of If I Thought You’d Ever Change Your Mind, and also the orchestral mix of I Was A Flower, but generally the original version of any song I hear will remain the go-to one. I’ve amended the title of the topic in response to BAAB’s post. I wanted to keep “Where Do We Go From Here?” in there though, as that is the one new song and therefore the one Agnetha had the most involvement with, and is also the only one to have new vocals. |
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Post by Henry on Sept 30, 2023 15:16:05 GMT
Hometown is right: the new version is an artistic choice. I don't see why the duet is a much better song than WDWGFH. It all subjective
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Post by Alan on Oct 4, 2023 15:29:57 GMT
Another, sort-of new photo.  |
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Post by Henry on Oct 5, 2023 8:47:03 GMT
sort of new?
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Post by Alan on Oct 5, 2023 15:32:01 GMT
A+ versions of "Dance Your Pain Away" and "Perfume In The Breeze" apparently out at midnight.
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Post by Alan on Oct 5, 2023 15:37:18 GMT
Is this the photo that was used for the single artwork?  |
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Post by Henry on Oct 5, 2023 22:07:35 GMT
I LOVE oerfume in the breeze! A+
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Post by Alan on Oct 6, 2023 9:02:00 GMT
My expectations were low but these two songs are OK. I’m not especially keen on the vocal manipulation. It’s similar to what was done with part of the original I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed, but I’m not sure we need it on every track? But they’re OK. Better than the Gary Barlow one, which seemed to have too much of him on the new version and less of her.
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Post by joseph on Oct 6, 2023 11:59:39 GMT
My feeling is that the tide has turned somewhat. I've seen mostly positive feedback about these two new versions and I can add to that. I was pleasantly surprised. I like them both a lot. I've given it some thought and although my criticism stands about what I feel is overuse of vocoder I get that it's the 'thing' of the moment and has been for quite time. It's a specific effect used for that very purpose and it's not, as someone else pointed out, as if ABBA didn't utilise vocal effects back in the day. I'm trying to be as open minded as possible while also not denying that my personal preference would be to hear Agnetha's voice as tamper-free as possible. But the music, the groove of these two new mixes, I'm absolutely down for. I just pray the vocoder doesn't come out on every single track. I'm hoping Bubble and Past Forever don't fall victim to (imo) overprocessed vocal tampering. We'll know before too long anyway.
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Post by Henry on Oct 6, 2023 13:20:49 GMT
If you want to hear more of het natural voice play the 2013 version. If you want to dance or chill play A+. Why compare? Just enjoy what there is...in the now.
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Post by Alan on Oct 6, 2023 14:39:27 GMT
If you want to hear more of het natural voice play the 2013 version. If you want to dance or chill play A+. Why compare? Just enjoy what there is...in the now. They’re the same songs, so of course people are going to compare! It’s naive to think no one would, or worse still, that no one should. Do you work for Agnetha’s people or BMG by any chance? Or just an Uber-Agnetha fan that (from your comments on the Voyage album) suggest you prefer her as an individual act than ABBA as a group? You post on here as a guest and won’t have a single word said against these new versions. I know for a fact that this is putting some off from posting in this topic. Anyone that says anything you don’t like quickly gets dismissed by you, and you almost ridicule them in the process. Imagine if we did the same back, would you like that? Even yesterday, you had to pick me up on the “sort-of new” comment. I didn’t think it needed an explanation. It’s from the same session as another photo we’ve already seen. I ignored your post at the time as, like most of your others, it was seemingly done to antagonise. Slightly passive-aggressive. “Sort-of new? It is new, we haven’t seen it before” is how it read. |
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Post by Henry on Oct 6, 2023 14:49:33 GMT
Get your act together and be friendly Alan
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Post by Alan on Oct 6, 2023 14:53:28 GMT
Get your act together and be friendly Alan It’s you that needs to do that. Final warning. |
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Post by Henry on Oct 6, 2023 14:59:48 GMT
There is a great interview with Jorgen Elofsson in retropopmagazine. Agnetha was much more involved than we presume and very much in contact with the music of today.
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Post by Alan on Oct 6, 2023 15:26:07 GMT
There is a great interview with Jorgen Elofsson in retropopmagazine. Agnetha was much more involved than we presume and very much in contact with the music of today. That’s interesting to hear. It certainly seems she trusts Jörgen. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Oct 6, 2023 17:18:13 GMT
I heard the two latest tracks today. For me, Dance Your Pain Away is head and shoulders above the rest of the tracks so far. It was never my favourite from the original album. I thought the original a little cynical, a by-numbers attempt to pander to The GayzTM. This new version is much more elegant, quite a bit cooler. The vocal processing is absolutely appropriate to the style of the track and the whole thing is a big improvement on the original. The re-tooling is very well done. I can see why they'd push a new song as the lead single, but this is the one that feels like it means business.
The new arrangement for Perfume In The Breeze is also an improvement on the original. I'm not convinced it needed quite so much vocal jiggerypokery: it's laid on with a trowel. But not the end of the world - it seems to be the signature sound of this project. I have no real affection for the song - and lyrics such as " like a homeless/I pushed my sorrows in a cart" really don't help. But this version is more enjoyable, I think. I like the little guitar motif.
I can't help wondering how much more exciting things might have been if Agnetha had reimagined a selection of tracks from all of the English language albums insead?
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Post by Alan on Oct 6, 2023 17:43:49 GMT
Ouch, that “homeless” line must have passed me by completely, HOMETIME. I’m not sure what I thought she was singing but perhaps I was deliberately not hearing it. The full line is apparently “Left me seaside like a homeless”. What on earth does “seaside” mean in this context? My focus was generally on the “mongers” lyric prior to this but I’d now have to question if Jörgen’s English is as good as he thinks it is. Björn may have made some gaffes, but nothing as bad as that. |
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Post by joseph on Oct 6, 2023 18:09:32 GMT
Regarding the use of certain phrases I must admit I find them a bit cringe. I don't know how helpful it is but I know someone who says things like that. "A gay, a Liverpool, a so and so. He uses the place someone comes from to describe them: "...there was a London on the bus', etc. Sorrows in a cart I took to mean pack up my troubles/ hide them away or whatever. Anyway, I find the lyrics in general rather good apart from the odd clanger.
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) I swing by every now and then but don't usually have the time to get stuck in.